The Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have emphasised the need to make the Labour Law more beneficial to workers in the informal sector.

According to the two organizations, evidence on the ground suggests that many workers in the informal sector worked under very exploitative and unfair conditions.

This came to light during a media engagement organized by the two organizations recently in Accra.

The engagement was to apprise the media on an advocacy programme on the labour law by the two organizations with support from the BUSAC Fund.

Under the programme, the GEA and the TUC have set out to educate workers in the informal sector to help deepen their knowledge and understanding of the Labour Act 2003.

Director of Industrial Relations at the GEA, Mr. Joseph Kingsley Amuah explained that while the informal sector formed a key component of the labour force, informal workers were not feeling the full impact of the labour law. The informal economy is the main employer in Ghana, absorbing about 88 percent of the economically active population, he stated.

He added that the sector provided employment and income for many who lose or cannot find work in the formal sector.

According to him, educating informal economy operators to understand and appreciate the Labour Act would contribute towards creating a more conducive policy environment for enterprise creation, improved labour standards, industrial peace and increased productivity and development.

He outlined some of the activities for the campaign as sensitization workshops in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Koforidua.

The Legal Administrative Officer of the TUC, Paapa Danquah, said the advocacy programme would help improve the standard of living and working conditions of workers in the informal sector.

He said many workers in the sector were unaware of their rights as employees and obligations as employers hence many workers operated under very dangerous and unfair conditions.